


Once upon a time

by Saltedkiss



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Canon Compliant, Clarke tells Madi a bedtime story, F/M, Gen, Post-Season/Series 04, Trigedasleng, clarke needs a hug, shallow valley, writing prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26558200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saltedkiss/pseuds/Saltedkiss
Summary: Madi doesn't want to go to bed yet, so Clarke decides to tell her a bedtime story about a brave young man named Bellamy.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Clarke Griffin & Madi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Once upon a time

**Author's Note:**

> [Originally posted on Tumblr.](https://shut-up-merlin.tumblr.com/post/629695711054807040/if-you-feel-so-inspired-i-vote-you-do-something)
> 
> This ficlet was inspired by a prompt I got in my asks:  
> “What happened to their happily ever after?” “Not all love stories get a happily ever after, sometimes it’s just once upon a time.”
> 
> This was my first time writing anything The 100-related and I absolutely adored writing Madi and Clarke. I figured I might as well post it here, too! Let me know what you think!

“Time to go to bed, Madi kom Louwoda Kliron Kru,” Clarke said with a smile, knowing full well the girl wouldn’t just accept the day was over yet. 

Today had been a wonderful day. Clarke and Madi had finally been able to get out of their house after what had been their harshest winter yet. The snow around their home had melted enough for them to go check the traps they had set up all over the valley. The excitement and physical exertion should have been enough to put any young girl out cold five minutes after they’d gotten home, but Clarke knew that wasn’t true for Madi. 

The girl Clarke had come to think of as her daughter, was unique in every way and this was no exception. It would take a lot for Madi to wind down enough to allow either of them to get any sleep. 

“ _Ai bilaik beja yu daun Klark. Ai no gaf nau kamp daun in,_ ” Madi whined.

Clarke couldn’t help but smile as the girl begged her to stay up a bit longer. “We’ll make a deal, how about that? If you don't make a fuss and get in bed now, I’ll tell you another story.”

" _Yu gon tel ai op of Okteivia en Belomi kom Skaikru nodotaim_?” the girl sounded excited.

“Yes I’ll tell you about Bellamy and Octavia again,” Clarke agreed. “But in English tonight.” She raised a hand when the girl started to protest. 

“Do we have a deal or not?”

“ _Sha_ ,” Madi agreed begrudgingly.

Clarke smoothed Madi’s hair back and tucked her in.

"Once upon a time...”

Clarke told Madi about a brave young man and his sister, Octavia, who had spent most of her life hiding in a hole under the floor. Madi’s eyes widened when Clarke spoke of the masquerade on Earth day, when the young girl had been captured and locked away. The story continued when the young girl got sent to the ground by the leaders of Skaikru, crammed in a metal container with a hundred other, some no older than Madi herself. Even though she had heard the story before, Madi tensed up. Her worried look soon faded, when she squealed with joy after Clarke told her the brave young man, Bellamy, had managed to sneak into the metal box so he could be with his sister again. 

Slowly the story shifted. Clarke mentioned the woman Bellamy had called “princess” and Madi wanted to hear more about her. So Clarke complied and spoke of Bellamy and the Princess, of how they tried to save their people, over and over again. Of how they wanted to make a difference, wanted to work together with the people they encountered. The Grounders, the monsters of Mount Weather, the monsters they slowly became. 

Clarke ran her fingers through Madi’s hair when she told the girl about the situations Bellamy and the Princess had to face, the decisions they had to take, the sacrifices they made. 

For their people. 

For their family. 

For each other.

“ _Belomi don hod em in?_ ” Madi asked after a while. 

“Did Bellami love her,”Clarke corrected the girl without thinking. She paused when the words sank in.

“Maybe he did.”

“I think _em_ did.” 

“I think he did,” Clarke said. “Not _em_.”

“I think he did,” Madi repeated.

Clarke didn’t answer but continued the story. She spoke of Praimfaya. Of how brave Bellamy was, when he tried to find a way for his friends to escape. About how he got them all to safety. Clarke’s voice cracked a little when she described how the Princess watched as Bellamy and the others rose back up into the skies, leaving nothing but a pillar of smoke and fire behind. 

“ _Em no.._.” Clarke raised a brow and Madi continued in English. “Why didn’t the Princess... _mafta emo op_?” 

“Follow them. Why didn’t the Princess follow them,” Clarke sighed. “She would have. She would have, Madi. If she could.”

“But she didn’t.”

“She didn’t.”

Clarke took Madi’s hand. “And now he’s looking down on us, from up above. Belomi kom Skaikru. Together with his friends. They’re happy, Madi. They’re living happily ever after.” Clarke barely managed to choke out the last words. 

“But Clarke,” Madi yawned. “Bellamy and the Princess. What happened to their happily ever after?”

“Not all love stories get a happily ever after, Madi. Sometimes it’s just once upon a time.”


End file.
